Upper Ganga Canal Expressway revived

UP plans afforestation drive along Upper Ganga e-way

The Uttar Pradesh government has planned “compensatory afforestation” in four districts of Bundelkhand for the loss of green belt in the area under the proposed Upper Ganga Canal Expressway.

As many as 40,000 trees will have to be cut for the project, which is awaiting clearance from the Union environment ministry under Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

This plantation in Bundelkhand will be in addition to a planned plantation along the expressway which, according to UP government officials, would be enough to compensate for the loss. The decision to undertake additional afforestation has been taken to make a stronger case for clearance from the ministry.

The state government has identified about 1,100 hectares of gramsabha land in four districts of Bundelkhand, namely Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur and Mahoba, for afforestation.

The 147.8 km long Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, from Sanuata bridge in Greater Noida to Purkaji in Muzaffarnagar district near the Uttarakhand border, is one of the state’s most ambitious projects to provide faster connectivity from Delhi to Uttarakhand. It will be connected to Yamuna Expressway and Ganga Expressway through the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.

The project, which was proposed in 2008, was put on hold following objections from MoEF for two reasons, i.e. about 40,000 trees along the canal would be cut to make way for the expressway and secondly, the proposed alignment of the expressway falls within 10km radius of Hastinapur wildlife sanctuary at different locations from Moradnagar to Purkaji.

The issue of wildlife clearance for the project was taken up by the steering committee of National Board for Wildlife recently on April 25, chaired by Union Minister Jairam Ramesh. Sources said that during the hearing, UP officials were asked to first take up the forest clearance.

However, the Forest Department of the Government of India has suggested various options to reduce the loss to the green belt, including reducing the width of the expressway from eight lanes to six lanes.

It had also asked the state government about details of the compensatory afforestation. It is in this background that the state government has decided to undertake additional afforestation in Bundelkhand.

“Proximity to Hastinapur wildlife sanctuary is not the major problem. We have also informed the Union ministry that there is already an existing road which is much closer to the sanctuary. Not only this, the boundaries of the sanctuary were defined over two decades back and do not hold significance now because in the past two decades, some revenue villages have come inside this boundary,” said a senior government official.

Therefore, making a strong case for forest clearance is important. The land that the government has identified in Bundelkhand is gram sabha land already in possession of the state government.

As for the suggestion to reduce the width of the proposed expressway, the official said this would defy the purpose of building the expressway, which is to reduce the burden on the existing NH-58.

Ignoring protests by environmentalists, the forest advisory committee (FAC), the expert body under the ministry of environment and forests which more often than not makes minister Jairam Ramesh’s opinion, has recommended clearance to an eight-lane, 150-km expressway along the Ganga canal.

At least 42,100 trees in five districts will have to be felled under the project, which is Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s dream. Environmentalists have flayed the expressway, which allegedly threatens wildlife both along the 100-year-old canal and in nearby areas, besides “slaughtering” trees. FAC’s decision to deny forest land to Maya to build mini-cities and shopping complexes along the way failed to pacify them.

The Rs7,000-crore project, along with the Yamuna Expressway project, is aimed at opening up Western UP’s hinterland to development by connecting it to the national capital.

FAC, however, questioned IIT-Indore’s proposed new campus because it encroaches on 80 hectares of reserved forest with 7,164 trees.

Ramesh is expected to take a final decision on both projects in a few weeks

The Uttar Pradesh government has given the nod to go ahead with the proposed eight-lane Upper Ganga Canal Expressway (UGCE) project, kick-starting the process of getting bids for tenders from the month-end.

“The UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (Upeida) has invited tenders and these will be opened on January 31st after being shortlisted to six contenders and the cost of the project is likely to be Rs 8450 crore,” project engineer and coordinator in Meerut, A P Singh said.

The 212-km expressway flanking the Upper Ganga Canal is proposed from Sanauta Bridge in Greater Noida to Purkazi on the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border.

Last year, the financial bidding process was cancelled several times due to variety of reasons, including investors' lack of interest and environmental issues.

The environment ministry, had in July last year, raised concerns over the project, saying it would lead to loss of over a lakh trees.

It also raised apprehensions on the effect of the project on a variety of endangered species of animals, including that of snakes, bulls, foxes, jackals and rabbits.

The UP government, in a latest project report, has claimed its complete readiness to go ahead with it, hoping to get the Request for Proposal (RFP) documents from bidders by January 31, Singh said.

The Mayawati Government is going ahead with its eight-lane Upper Ganga Canal (UGC) expressway project that will utilise one of the richest forest areas of the State, despite Union Environment Ministry's serious objections to it.

The Uttar Pradesh Industrial Expressways Development Authority (UPEIDA), created by the Government for the purpose, has invited tenders for the construction of 148-km-long UGC expressway, despite denial of forest and environmental clearances for the project by the Ministr y of Environment and Forests. The UPEIDA has announced January 31, 2011 the date for the bidding.

While inviting tenders on the website, the notice mentioned "with reference to RFQ issued by UPEIDA for "08Lane Access Controlled Expressway on right bank of Upper Ganga Canal from Sanauta Bridge (Greater Noida) to near Purkazi (Muzaffarnagar district) before UPUttarakhand border", this is to inform that following applicants have been shortlisted as "Pre-Qualified Applicants" and they are found eligible for participation in the second stage of the bidding process (bid stage) comprising Request for Proposal by Isolux Corsan Concessiones SA, Gurgaon; Era­Sibmost JV, Noida; DSC­Apollo JV, Gurgaon; IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, Mumbai; Jaiprakash Associates Limited, Noida; Reliance Infrastructure Limited­Reliance Infraventures Limited, Mumbai Chief Executive Officer, UPEIDA."

Confirming the invitation of tenders, project coordinator AP Singh, Executive Engineer stationed at Meerut, said "We have invited tenders and are scheduled to open the biddings on January 31, 2011 after being shortlisted to six contenders, including JP Associates. Now the project cost has also increased to `8,450 crore".

The Union Environment Ministry in July last year had held that the project would lead to complete destruction of over 100,000 trees along the Upper Ganga Canal stretch that also comprises two rich protected forests and a dense vegetation cover.

A report prepared by the Union Environment Ministry's Lucknow Regional Office had critically pointed that the project was also bound to affect the habitat of some of the most endangered species like snakes, blue bulls, monitor lizards, porcupines, foxes, jackals, rabbits and rats. The canal had patches of rich forest inhabited by a number of indigenous flora and fauna. From Page 1 The Ministry has also criticised the State Government for not taking environmental impact assessment for the project, while denying the permission to move ahead with the project.

A senior official of the Regional Office (Central Zone) — MOEF in Lucknow, said, “The State has a flip-flop approach towards environmental issues. It has absolutely no concerns about its own forests. They are nowhere on its priority. Hardly 7 per cent of the whole State area is forest and that too is subjected to heavy biotic pressure and grazing.

illegal. The State cannot pursue this. It is violating the forest and environment Acts. We will write to the State Government to stop this immediately and also apprise the Ministry about the matter,” Zaidi told this correspondent.

“The expressway is also feared to pollute the canal that provides water to Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad. The Sonia Vihar treatment plant in Delhi and Pratap Vihar plant are fed through the same canal. Environmentalists have also cautioned that with the provisions of steamer transport, the naturally clean canal would be directly polluted”, said Rajendra Tyagi a social and environmental activist.

“Also, as iron railings are not feasible to be erected all along the stretch, people passing along would throw polythene waste and other material into the canal that would contaminate this water source to the capital’, added Tyagi.

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to revive the Upper Ganga Canal Expressway project, which will provide a fast link between Uttarakhand and the National Capital Region. January 31 has been fixed as the tentative date for submission and opening of final bids.

On Monday, a pre-bid meeting was held to clarify the queries of the six qualified bidders regarding the amended Request for Proposal document. Five of the six bidders, who were selected in April, were present.

An official said the government has made some changes in the alignment of the expressway. Besides, the cost of the project has gone up by about Rs 194 crore as a result of liberalisation of the rehabilitation policy. Originally, it was estimated to cost Rs 8,700 crore.

The proposed 148-km-long, eight-lane expressway would take off from Sanauta Bridge near Bulandshahr district, run along the right bank of the Upper Ganga Canal, and end at Purkaji near the UP-Uttarakhand border in Muzaffarnagar district.

A big plus point of the project is that the Irrigation Department owns about 655 hectares and only about 142 hectares has to be acquired.